Dear Jay – What a predicament.  You made a joke on April Fool’s Day and
there have been many reactions; some positive, some negative, some
incredulous, etc.  I find myself understanding everyone’s reactions and
thinking:  Could this have been done (the joke) without all these strong
reactions?  So, I looked at all my reactions; and there were a few.

At first, I was so excited by “Dr. Tayloe’s” letter that I did not read any
later LACTNET posts about it but just rushed to send it to many colleagues
in the lactation community.  Shortly, some colleagues e-mailed me to inform
me that it was a joke (they were part of the groups I had written to and had
read later LACTNET posts).  Immediately, I wrote to everyone and informed
them that it was a joke because it was April 1.  My message expressed my
embarrassment, stated my apology, told them how bad I felt, etc.  Well, some
of them wrote back that they were so elated that “Dr. Tayloe” finally
realized how wrong the AAP was that they, in turn, rushed the info out to
many of their colleagues (childbirth educators, midwives, RNs, MDs, etc.).
They had to send out a correction also.  What a mess!  It certainly was not
what you intended, I am sure.

My second reaction, because of my red face, was annoyance with you.  You are
a trusted colleague and I never suspected that you would pull such a joke on
LACTNETTERs (i.e. naïve me).  My excitement over “Dr. Tayloe’s” letter was
my wishful thinking.

My third reaction was to try to understand WHY you did, what you did.  It
was innocent – maybe not thought through thoroughly, but not
mal-intentioned.

My fourth reaction was from the side of my brain that controls my logical
and critiquing behavior.  What if you had written that letter and fooled
some of us, but warned us at the end with a note that it was an April Fool’s
joke?  You could have said:  “Gotcha!  April Fool!”  Hindsight is always
20-20.

Let’s forgive and remember all the good you have done by standing up for
breastfeeding and innocent children, and not being too popular in the
medical community because of that.  Cheer up!  You did not cause any harm –
just a few hurt egos.  The AAP is guilty of hurting innocent children and
their moms by its association with the Artificial Baby Milk (ABM) (aka
formula) industry.  That is the serious problem we need to concentrate our
energies on.  Good luck in trying to point out to the AAP, its president,
and its attorney the error of their ways.  Will they ever stop actions that
increase the morbidity and mortality for children who ingest ABM?

Warm regards,

Lee Galasso, MS, LLLL, IBCLC, RLC

Lactation Specialist

Lactation Center of Westchester/Putnam

Westchester County in NYS, USA

 

914-245-2206

[log in to unmask]

 

Vice-President

Westchester/Putnam/Rockland (WPR) Lactation Consortium

 

“Children Are Born with the Right to Breastfeed”

 


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